LePage vetoes budget, Legislature to discuss Wednesday
Gov. Paul LePage on Monday vetoed a two-year budget proposal lawmakers sent to his desk earlier this month. The state’s next spending plan goes into effect July 1 and lawmakers are expected to take action on the veto Wednesday.
The Portland Press Herald reported Democratic leaders believe they have the votes to override the governor’s veto, which would avert a shutdown of state government at the start of the new budget. The paper reported nine House Democrats previously opposed the budget but are expected to join their party in an override scenario.
Republican lawmakers remain divided over the $6.3 billion proposal. House Minority Leader Kenneth Fredette, R-Newport, who supported the budget, told the paper that the situation in his caucus remains “fluid.” If Republican lawmakers stick with their initial votes on the budget, it would be a sufficient margin in both chambers to override LePage’s veto.
The governor said he vetoed the budget because it included cuts to certain education programs and a 0.5% increase to the state’s sales tax and a 1% increase to the state’s meals-and-lodging tax. In his veto letter, the governor said the former cuts would harm the state’s students and the latter cuts would harm elderly Mainers.
LePage has asked that the Legislature pass a “continuing resolution” to allow 60 more days to craft a new spending plan, but Attorney General Janet Mills said in a letter to lawmakers that the temporary spending plan could not substitute for a balanced, two-year budget under the state constitution. LePage’s chief legal counsel, Michael Cianchette, has told reporters he disagrees with Mills’ interpretation.
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